In gas turbine engines, rope seal type joint packings are used to minimize leakage of hot gas between stationary components of the engine, such as between a turbine vane stator and the outer case of the engine. Usually, the rope seal seats in a groove in one component and bears against a flat wall of the other component facing the groove. Environmentally, such rope seals operate under a typical pressure differential across the rope seal of on the order of up to 80 psi, at a typical temperature of up to about 1400 degrees F., and with small but recurring relative movement between the two stationary components resulting from relative thermal growth and the like.
Prior rope seals have included a core of bundled and twisted ceramic fibers surrounded by a cover of cross woven flat stainless steel strips, the core effecting an adequate high temperature seal and the cover protecting the core against abrasion due to relative movement between the stationary elements of the engine. Undesirable characteristics of the prior rope seal, however, include stiffness and lack of compressibility. A rope seal type joint packing according to this invention is a novel improvement over the aforesaid prior rope seal.